cannabisnews.com: Will a New Study Force Changes in Drug Law? Will a New Study Force Changes in Drug Law? Posted by CN Staff on March 15, 2007 at 07:29:12 PT By Bruce Mirken, AlterNet Source: AlterNet USA -- On March 8, a high-powered British commission recommended tossing that country's law on illegal drugs onto the scrap heap and starting over again. Given that the U.S. Controlled Substances Act parallels the British Misuse of Drugs Act in important ways, the suggestion deserves attention in America as well.Indeed, it would be a fine start if Americans could simply begin the sort of rational, thoughtful debate on drug policy that the British seem to be having. If we could manage such a thing, we might start changing illogical and unscientific laws that now lead to more U.S. arrests for marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined. The RSA Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy, was convened by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a respected think tank with a 250-year history. After two years of research, this panel of experts and laypeople came to a number of conclusions so sensible and so obvious that it's astonishing how consistently our elected leaders have avoided confronting them. In particular:The notion of a drug-free society is "almost certainly a chimera. ... People have always used substances to change the way they see the world and how they feel, and there is every reason to think they always will." Therefore, "the main aim of public policy should be to reduce the amount of harms that drugs cause." A policy based on total prohibition "is bound to fail."The concept of "drugs" should include tobacco and alcohol. "Indeed, in their different ways, alcohol and tobacco cause far more harm than illegal drugs." These substances should be brought into a unified regulatory framework "capable of treating substances according to the harm they cause."The heart of this new regulatory framework must be an index of substance-related harms. "The index should be based on the best available evidence and should be able to be modified in light of new evidence." We need a new way of evaluating the efficacy of drug policies. "In our view, the success of drugs policy should be measured not in terms of the amounts of drugs seized or in the number of dealers imprisoned, but in terms of the amount of harms reduced." As an example of the sort of harms index they envision, the RSA Commission points to an index developed by a pair of British scientists, David Nutt and Colin Blakemore, and published in a House of Commons report last year.Based on scientific evaluations of physical harms (e.g., acute and chronic toxicity), likelihood of dependence, and social harms (including damage done to others, health care costs, etc.), Nutt and Blakemore ranked 20 different classes of drugs, both legal and illegal. Not surprisingly, heroin was at the top of the harm scale, followed by cocaine and barbiturates. Alcohol and tobacco were rated as significantly more harmful than marijuana and several other illegal substances.While not specifically endorsing the Nutt/Blakemore index, the RSA Commission clearly considered these rankings a good example of what they have in mind, using them as a starting point for illustrations of how such an index might translate into law. Marijuana, they wrote, "should continue to be controlled. But its position on the harms index suggests that the form this control takes might have to correspond far more closely with the way in which alcohol and tobacco are regulated."Both the United States and Britain now have drug laws that rank drugs into a series of classifications. The problem -- well, at least one problem -- is that these classifications have little connection to what the science actually tells us about the dangers (or lack thereof) of different substances. Britain's version, the commission noted, "is driven more by 'moral panic' than a practical desire to reduce harm. ... It sends people to prison who should not be there. It forces people into treatment who do not need it (while, in effect, denying treatment to people who do need it)."And Britain's law is, on at least one key point, far more rational than the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. The British classify marijuana in the lowest of three classes of illicit drugs -- still illegal, but treated as less dangerous than cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine. Simple possession, without aggravating circumstances, is generally a "nonarrestable" offense.Our CSA ranks marijuana in Schedule I, the worst class of drugs -- considered not only to be at high risk of abuse but also to be unsafe for use even under medical supervision -- along with heroin and LSD. Amazingly, cocaine and meth are in Schedule II -- considered acceptable for use under medical supervision. That such a ranking is insane should not need to be stated.There are plenty of specifics in the RSA report about which reasonable people can disagree. But the important thing is not what they say about any specific drug -- and indeed, the report is careful not to advocate specific legal changes for particular drugs. What's important is that it suggests a framework that's far more rational than what now exists in the United States, Britain and most other countries: A reality-based approach rooted in sound science, focusing on how to reduce harm.Even more encouraging is the generally level-headed reaction thus far. Some commentators are arguing with parts of the report and disagreeing with some suggestions, but even critics seem to be acknowledging that the RSA has raised important issues that need serious discussion.As a commentary in the March 9 edition of the London paper the Mirror put it, "Hasn't the time now come to hold a public debate on whether our current drug prohibition is working any better than the alcohol prohibition of Al Capone's day? Aren't we now adult enough to discuss whether a legally regulated drug trade would work better than our gangster-run market? We think we are."Sadly, it's hard to imagine such a rational discussion taking place on the national stage in the United States. Meanwhile, in the time it took you to read this, 12 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges. Bruce Mirken is communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. Source: AlterNet (US)Author: Bruce MirkenPublished: March 15, 2007Copyright: 2007 Independent Media InstituteContact: letters alternet.org Website: http://www.alternet.org/DL: http://www.alternet.org/story/49159/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #20 posted by Celaya on March 16, 2007 at 08:49:38 PT Dankhank "In 500 years or less, if we aren't exploded into space, the human race will likely be light brown."Right. About 500 years too late, if you ask me. I'd trade my skin for a nice Hispanic brown in a heartbeat. My pale skin, evolved for cloudy, cold climates, has become problematic in this sunny continent. I'd save a fortune on dermatologist procedures and medications, avoid countless hours of discomfort, and have less anxiety about my health. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by FoM on March 15, 2007 at 18:01:55 PT Dankhank I agree with you. We are no longer a white country and I'm not sure why that is or was important anyway. We are human beings. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Dankhank on March 15, 2007 at 17:51:18 PT Mexicans ... I personally witnessed prejudice against Mexicans, or those who seem to be such, to include my father, who at the time, was a member of the United States Air Force and a native-born citizen of the good ole US of A. This was around 1957 or so in Texas.I have no problem with Latin's gaining influence here, it happened for the Irish, Italians, Germans, Poles ...each in his/her turn.In 500 years or less, if we aren't exploded into space, the human race will likely be light brown. White Folks likely will be museum exhibits ... look Momma, how did they get so white?White Folk are no more special than any other hue. Equally as greedy, cruel, violent and uncaring as anyone else.If you fear unrestrained growth of third-world peoples, do this thing ... seems to work empirically, at least.Get them GOOD Jobs, good houses, safe lives and they will do what we do in the west, limit our own growth. This rat race we collectively live causes birth rates to slow. Perfect. War doesn't do it, stopping progress economically, politically or what doesn't work.Give them a good job. Problem solved.In the meantime, can't we all just get along? [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by BGreen on March 15, 2007 at 15:28:12 PT More sanity from the Dutch MPs oppose smoking ban in coffeeshops14 March 2007AMSTERDAM – A majority in Parliament of the Labour PvdA, Socialist SP, Liberal VVD, and Green-left GroenLinks does not think that a smoking ban for the hospitality industry should apply to coffeeshops.Coalition party PvdA says that CDA Public Health Minister Ab Klink should leave coffeeshops out of the plans for a smoking ban."Otherwise there will be a fundamental change to the soft drugs policy. People go to coffeeshops to smoke. The idea is that if they go there, there will be less nuisance for others elsewhere," says Labour MP Lea Bouwmeester.http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=37623SNIPPED-------------------------------------------------This doesn't sound like a country that is reconsidering their 30-year-old cannabis policy, does it?Why, then, do our so-called "leaders" in the US government keep telling us otherwise?Oh yeah, it's because our so-called "leaders" in the US government are liars.The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Celaya on March 15, 2007 at 14:35:46 PT Richard Zuckerman Please go away with your prejudice against Mexicans. The best people I know are Mexicans. Much better than you. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by Richard Zuckerman on March 15, 2007 at 13:55:50 PT: A RECENT ARTICLE IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS Please read the article entitled "Drug war corrupts cops", by Ronald Fraser, Pd.D., fraserr erols.com, in the Home News Tribune, www.thnt.com, Wednesday, March 14, 2007, page A5, about recent examples of corrupt public officials involved in drugs? To download the article, simply type www.thnt.com, and when the local newspaper's web page comes up, type "Drug war corrupts cops" into the Web site search option on right side near the newspaper's title.Mike Levine, www.expertwitnessradio.org, repeatedly states that "a fish rots from the head down," when describing corruption, which means that sometimes the corruption begins at the higher echelon of the public corporation.While you people lament your continuing practice of voting for Democrats and Republicans, or not voting at all on Election Day, instead of voting for 3rd party candidates, the $4.5 Trillion Wanta Plan Settlement is being converted to the private use of Henry Paulson, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and Vice-President Dick Cheney, See, e.g., www.worldreports.org, which might be among the "secret money" funding the Iraq war CNN referred to in a nightly news cast a couple of weeks ago, and the "Free Trade Agreements" and the plan for the "North American Union" [NAU] is being implemented for a NAFTA Superhighway to run all the way up from Mexico to Canada and the Council on Foreign Relations is slowly carrying out their plan to eliminate our International Borders to finally repeal the U.S. Constitution, end the sovereignty of the individual citizen, to render us their slaves in a 3rd world country, overpopulated by Mexicans. www.thenewamerican.com; www.fairus.org; www.ccir.net. After you sheeple who kowtow to the government vote have lost your freedoms, do not complain to me!! I would urge you people to contact your U.S. House of Representatives and both U.S. Senators, in separate telephone calls, at the toll free telephone number (866) 340-9281, for support of House Concurrent Resolution 40 [H. Con. Res. 40], to block a NAFTA Superhighway system and oppose the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North American that was declared by President Bush, then-Mexican President Vicente Fox, and then-Canada Prime Minister Paul Martin at their summit meeting in Waco, Texas on March 23, 2005, and Council on Foreign Relations plan since years gone by!!! Tell them you oppose Amnesty for illegal border crossers. Tell them you support H.R. 1009 [February 13, 2007[, entitled the "Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007". And yes, tell them you support the legalization, regulation, and taxation of "Marijuana", www.prohibitioncosts.org. MAKE THAT CALL SOON, PEOPLE! TELL YOUR PARENTS ABOUT THIS, TOO! Vote for Congressman Ron Paul, Libertarian Republican-Texas [who, by the way, is NOT a Bush!!!], one of the sponsors of same aforementioned H. Con. Res. 40, a sponsor of H.R. 1009 [February 13, 2007], entitled the "Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007", and a candidate for U.S. President!We may not longer rest on being reactive. WE MUST BE PROACTIVE! This means we should contact members of other organizations, other 3rd parties, to coalesce, for this year's anti-war marches next month, for the "Worldwide March For Cannabis Liberation", www.cures-not-wars.org scheduled for the May 4, 5, 6, 2007, weekend, and to attend P.T.A. meetings of your local schools to get the word out about these matters because most parents are NOT informed because they rely upon manipulated meda caused by Rupert Murdoch and the federal government!!!!! Your State legislators, too! There are four Bills pending in the N.J. Legislature which would charge illegal aliens in-state tuition rates for attending college in New Jersey. Have any of you people ever heard of the PLAN OF SAN DIEGO? It is the plan devised in Northern Mexico in 1915 the aim of which is to KILL ALL WHITE MALES OVER THE AGE OF 16!!Richard Paul Zuckerman, Post Office Box 159, Metuchen, New Jersey, 08840-0159, (Cell telephone number)(848) 250-8879, (Land line telephone number)(732) 220-1960, richardzuckerman2002 yahoo.com; www.myspace.com/nonewworldorder [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on March 15, 2007 at 13:11:02 PT Dankhank Yes Sir! I love it! [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Dankhank on March 15, 2007 at 12:53:00 PT kswo that's the ABC station in my town ... they get it in texas, too, but, it's a SW OK station ...they regularly receive emails from me, usually passing some story of the latest atrocity begat by our governments ...glad Tyrone Brown is free ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf-Q2rDd6Twrevolution is upon us ... [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by freewillks on March 15, 2007 at 12:06:46 PT observer observer, I have been floowing this case for a few months and am glad to see him out of prison. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by observer on March 15, 2007 at 11:50:58 PT Man freed after 17-years - for smoking pot Man freed after 17-year imprisonment for smoking marijuanaHUNTSVILLE, Texas - A man sentenced to life in prison 17 years ago after breaking probation by smoking marijuana was set free today.Tyrone Brown was met by relatives and journalists as he walked out of prison. His mother, Nora Brown, embraced her son as he broke into a wide smile.Brown received a conditional pardon Friday from Governor Rick Perry. He'll have to live with his mother, report to a parole officer, find a job and work with a therapist. Perry's office says violating any of those terms will cause the conditional pardon to be revoked.Brown was 17 when he was placed on probation for taking part in an armed robbery in which no one was hurt. Judge Keith Dean re-sentenced him to life after one positive drug test.Brown's case stood in sharp contrast to that of a convicted murderer whom Dean put on probation. John Alexander Wood repeatedly tested positive for cocaine and committed other violations, yet avoided prison. He even got permission to quit reporting to a probation officer and quit taking drug tests. Neither man had a prior criminal history. The judge has never explained his actions. (Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com) http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=6232291The judge has never explained his actions.The unjust judge hates pot smokers, _____, etc. http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme1.htm#1 [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on March 15, 2007 at 11:43:18 PT Celaya I do believe that people are starting to understand that we have many cultures of people and they all have different values. That doesn't mean anyone or anyway is bad but they are just different and in a democracy we should be able to live side by side and be tolerant of others beliefs. There I go again living in my la la land. LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Celaya on March 15, 2007 at 11:14:38 PT FoM A good question. I believe Sands is laying out a blueprint for discussion right now. In doing so, he is taking into consideration what is politically feasible at this time. He knows the public is ready for marijuana legalization, but not for the hard drugs.I think the key to his position is found in his second of "Three immediate steps.""Call on our congressional delegation to amend the Federal Controlled Substances Act to allow states greater latitude in designing their own drug policies."This would basically leave it up to each state to craft their own drug policy. This makes great sense. If a state is so full of fundamentalist Christians and others that can't stand the thought of "drugs," well, let them rot in their own ignorance. Meanwhile, they won't hold back other states that want to act rationally. This is what happened with alcohol. Many states were "dry" for a long time, but all eventually saw they were cutting their own throats, losing revenues, businesses and citizens. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on March 15, 2007 at 10:53:21 PT Celaya That is a good article. I don't see this addressed though. Some people even if the laws would be changed would try to sell hard drugs so what would the writer do about that problem? [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Celaya on March 15, 2007 at 10:45:07 PT Vermont DA Gives Great Plan For Drug Policy Reform Imagine this coming from a DA! (called State's Attorney in Vermont)http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070314/OPINION03/703140323"we might find that the black market and related crime and violence that result from complete prohibition create more public harm than the use of the drug itself. For these drugs, we might adopt a non-criminal justice approach, focusing on education, prevention, and treatment to minimize harm. Marijuana falls into this category. If we are committed to public health and safety, we cannot perpetuate a system that exacerbates rather than reduces harm."(Much more at link) [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on March 15, 2007 at 10:20:30 PT Poems, Prayers and Promises 1973 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCWzzvwOqgA&mode=related&search= [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 15, 2007 at 10:14:18 PT The GCW I think it's great using Rocky Mountain High. To me it is the first song picked by a state that everyone I ever talked to when it was popular and a big hit meant marijuana so you have the first state marijuana song and that is so cool.Another song I love by John Denver is Poems, Prayers and Promises.lie there by the fire and watch the evening tirewhile my friends and my old lady sit and pass the pipe aroundand talk of Poems, Prayers and Promises. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 15, 2007 at 10:05:32 PT An FDA Warning? Why don't they just change the law and put a warning on Cannabis and say warning Cannabis might make you smile. Be careful.***Some Medications Can Give Insomniacs License To Drive March 15, 2007WASHINGTON -- All prescription sleeping pills may sometimes cause sleep-driving, federal health officials warned Wednesday, almost a year after the bizarre side effect first made headlines when Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car after taking Ambien.It's a more complicated version of sleepwalking, but behind the wheel: getting up in the middle of the night and going for a drive -- with no memory of doing so. The Food and Drug Administration wouldn't say exactly how many cases of sleep-driving it had linked to insomnia drugs, but neurology chief Dr. Russell Katz said the agency uncovered more than a dozen reports -- and is worried that more are going uncounted.Given the millions of prescriptions for insomnia drugs, Katz called the problem rare, and said he was unaware of any deaths. But because sleep-driving is so dangerous -- and there are precautions that patients can take -- the FDA ordered a series of strict new steps Wednesday.URL: http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/298280,CST-NWS-sleep15.article [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by The GCW on March 15, 2007 at 09:54:06 PT US CO: Getting high on Colorado US CO: Getting high on ColoradoViewed at: http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2007-03-15/news3.html"Noting that she felt like "singing rather than speaking," Rep. Debbie Stafford, R-Aurora, said she supports the song. However, she asked that the resolution be amended so one of the last stanzas of the song — "Friends around the campfire and everybody's high" — be formally defined to reflect a meaning related to "elevation," and not drug abuse. """Cont. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Toker00 on March 15, 2007 at 08:38:37 PT Medicine/Recreation vs. Poison. When a medicine becomes a Toxin in your body, or causes unhealable damage, it should be called a poison, and Treatment given for Poison. Otherwise, if there is no unhealable damage, shouldn't natural plant based drugs in Safe dosages be LEGAL and when these substances poison someone, (Like Alcohol), they be treated as though they are Poisoned and not thrown like animals into a LOCKED CAGE?If spanking a child's ass for doing something wrong is CHILD ABUSE, then shouldn't throwing people in prison for possessing a plant be ADULT ABUSE? Or maybe LIBERTY ABUSE? That's all it is, anyway. The DEAth of LIBERty.Toke. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Toker00 on March 15, 2007 at 08:24:34 PT Will a New Investigation into 9-11 Force Changes In Patriot Act? MCA? Gonzo's Job Security? Help. I need some inspiration for this weekend. Something like...BUSH "PULLED" 9-11!OR9-11: CONTROLLED DEMOLITION OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC!ORTHREE TOWERS FELL ON 9-11!OR...Thanks in advance! Can be Canna-related, too! I'm building for that Great Day, too!Toke. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment